Opening statements began yesterday in Phoenix, AZ for the June, 2008 murder of Travis Alexander. 32 year old Jodi Arias claims she killed him in self defense.

Taking a page from the Jose Baez playbook, Jodi Arias’s attorney stunned courtwatchers yesterday by attempting to paint Jodi Arias as the victim of sexual and mental abuse at the hand of the true (murder) victim, Travis Alexander. In a move that was seen during Jose Baez’s opening statement in the Casey Anthony trial, the defense portrayed Arias as Travis Alexander’s “dirty little secret” and described in graphic detail which sexual acts were considered “less sinful” than others.

The defense claims Alexander, a devout Mormon persuaded Arias to enter into an intense physical relationship although sex outside of marriage is strictly prohibited in his faith. They claimed Travis was leading a “double life”, carrying on a sexual relationship with Jodi in private, while claiming to be a “virginal Mormon” to family and friends. Alexanders family and friends filled the first several rows of the courtroom and could be seen sobbing and holding one another through the graphic testimony and photographic evidence presented during the first day of the trial.

The prosecution asserts that Arias and Alexander had a consensual sexual relationship, and Arias was not the victim she claimed to be. Instead, she was a jealous and scorned woman who couldn’t handle rejection and stalked Alexander and slashed the tires on his car – twice, hacked into his Facebook account and ultimately murdered him while he was defenseless in the shower. Alexander had been shot in the face, stabbed 29 times and had his throat slashed.

The murder seemed to have been captured on a digital camera. Arias defense claimed that she dropped the camera in the bathroom and sent Travis Alexander into a rage, giving Jodi Arias only moments to make a life or death decision. The prosecution asserted that Arias inadvertently dropped the camera, showing in a blurry picture of the ceiling just above the shower Travis was in, followed by photos of a bloodied Travis Alexander’s arm and head in which a woman’s foot can be seen – believed to be Jodi Arias’.

Sadly, a photo of Travis in the shower – shown from the neck up was shown in which he looks directly into the camera was more than likely the last photo that would be taken of him alive. He doesn’t look “enraged”, rather he looks directly into the camera in a picture so close and clear that beads of water can be seen on his face. Time and date stamps on the photos provide a timeline that Arias will have a difficult time explaining. Minutes after this photo was taken he would end up on the floor, dead or dying.